The Versatile Master Artist

It felt like it happened just yesterday. Gu Weijing still clearly remembers the time and place this photo was taken.

It was when he was in the eleventh grade,

he and Mona went to Yangon’s Moma Sea Amusement Park during summer vacation.

There, they had Myanmar’s largest Ferris wheel, with an automatic photo feature that provided visitors in the cabin with a group photo when the Ferris wheel descended.

The photos were free, taken automatically when the cabin reached a fixed point, but it cost money to take them home.

Printing a photo cost 30,000 Myanmar Kyat, and the electronic copy was the same price, with an additional 15,000 Kyat for a frame.

Mona asked if they should get a photo.

Gu Weijing thought it was a bit expensive, as 30,000 Kyat could print half a dozen photos in a photo studio, and Mona just smiled.

A few days later, Miss Sande Nu suddenly took his phone and fiddled with it, and this photo became Gu Weijing’s screensaver, which he has used to this day.

Whenever Gu Weijing and Mona went out to play, all expenses were always split equally, so he wanted to send her the money for the photo, but Mona refused.

”Let’s come back here in ten years and take the same photo. You can treat us next time,” Mona said with just a smile back then.

The vague feelings of adolescence came and went like the sudden downpour of a spring day in Yangon.

Only two years had passed,

yet when Gu Weijing looked at this photo again, he couldn’t shake the feeling that everything had changed.

”Bro, you are best suited to each other!”

Just then,

a notification from the classmates group on social media appeared.

He clicked on it instinctively.

Jerry had just shared a photo, triggering a flurry of discussion in the chat group.

Classmates were continuously sending flower emoji packs and exclamations like ”so romantic.”

In just a few minutes, there were already over a hundred new messages.

Special effects of flower petals from couples kept flashing by on the social media screen.

Gu Weijing opened the message to see a photo of a restaurant where Mona and Jerry were dressed formally, sitting across a small square table covered with a plaid tablecloth and adorned with roses and candlesticks, gazing at each other through the candlelight.

The photo was indeed romantic enough to be submitted to a photography magazine.

Gu Weijing laughed silently to himself.

”You can have a candlelight dinner anytime, but I can watch the rain with you,” Koizumi Katsuko said, taking Gu Weijing’s hand.

She knew that Gu Weijing seemed to have a story with this girl named Mona, so she gently comforted him by saying, ”You have me.”

Gu Weijing gently shook his head.

He opened his phone, not because he felt unbalanced.

He found his social media contacts, clicked on Mona’s profile picture, and although she had deleted him as a friend, their years of chat history was still saved on his phone.

”Gu Weijing, how long has it been since you came to the studio?”

”Gu Weijing, shall we hang out next week?”

”Gu Weijing, come over to my place this weekend to do homework together...”

”There’s a new ramen shop that I’ve heard is good. Let’s go after school, I’ll bring some cupcakes for you...”

...

All these years of communication had accumulated here, the screen just a finger’s flick away, like a river filled with memories.

”Just let it be.”

Gu Weijing hesitated for a moment, speaking to himself in his heart.

Looking at these chat logs, Koizumi Katsuko’s gaze was briefly tinged with melancholy.

This experience of growing up together was something she couldn’t compete with Miss Sande Nu over.

This precious life experience must be a beautiful memory.

She wasn’t jealous, just envious.

The next moment, Koizumi Katsuko was surprised. She saw Gu Weijing long press on Mona’s profile picture and then select delete.

[You are about to delete the contact (MONA). After deleting, your chat history with the contact will be cleared and cannot be recovered. Are you sure?]

A prominent English prompt appeared on the screen.

”No need, such good memories, just keep them,” Koizumi Katsuko found it a bit of a pity for Gu Weijing.

”No, it’s over.”

Gu Weijing pressed confirm, watching as the chat line disappeared from his phone. He turned to look at Koizumi Katsuko and said softly.

”Miss Sakai, you are my lover too.”

-----------------

”I’ll deal with my mom. After school, we’ll come here to paint together.”

Koizumi Katsuko carried her small easel, and together with Gu Weijing, moved the completed reproductions from the gatehouse to the small studio in the orphanage, tidying up the room in the process.

As a newly hired assistant, Uncle Ah Lai initially wanted to help out.

But the gatekeeper was very perceptive,

Upon seeing the boy and girl laughing together, a pleasant atmosphere in the air, he discreetly vanished into the shadows.

Before leaving,

Uncle merely gave Gu Weijing an amused glance, taking away little Jasmine, who was sticking to Koizumi Katsuko like a curious child enchanted by the beautiful big sister.

”We could add an easel here, facing the sunlight. On good days, we might see the distant Yangon River.”

Miss Sakai looked at the small room with affection, as if planning their home like a newlywed wife.

”We could add two more bean bags there. Throw in a set of lighting over here, hmm, two bean bags are not enough, maybe buy a few more stools. During breaks, we can teach art classes to the kids at the orphanage, show Jasmine and them how to appreciate art; I can teach them sketching, and you can teach them color...”

Koizumi Katsuko tilted her head, her eyes dreamy.

Her natural instinct as a girl had led her to imagine how they would spend the future semester together.

No,

a semester wasn’t enough, it was going to be many, many years.

Thinking of this, Koizumi Katsuko turned to Gu Weijing and asked, ”Do you have any plans? If you’re willing, would you like to study at the Tama Art University where my father works? I can speak to Professor Lin Tao there. Although the Central Academy of Fine Arts is an excellent art school and Professor Lin Tao is a famous artist, but...”

Saying this, Shengzi gently lifted their clasped hands, giving them a slight shake as she spoke.

”But obviously, my father would definitely take better care of you than Professor Lin.”

Koizumi Katsuko always knew that her father, Professor Yakai Ichiro, appreciated the young man beside her, although he was poached by Professor Lin Tao first.

The Central Academy of Fine Arts is the top art school in Asia, ranking no lower than Japan’s private Tama Art University.

Even if not for Lin Tao, one must consider Elder Cao’s reputation.

Even if Yakai Ichiro liked Gu Weijing, he wasn’t going to compete for students with Cao Xuan’s oldest living disciple, Lin Tao.

But now,

it’s different, a son-in-law from a Japanese family could be more important than an unpromising son.

Miss Sakai believed that even if Gu Weijing transferred from Professor Lin Tao to her father’s tutelage, Professor Lin would understand.

Seeing that Gu Weijing didn’t seem particularly moved, Miss Sakai whispered in his ear, ”My father’s contract is an OFA agency contract. I’ll tell you a secret, he might be able to set you up to intern at that ’granny’s’ studio.”

Gu Weijing blinked his eyes.

OFA is the abbreviation for Ota Fine Arts, a Japanese gallery that is one of Asia’s top galleries.

Its scale can’t compare to super galleries like Gagosian, PACE, and Lisson, which boast billions of US dollars in working capital, focusing instead on a boutique route, with revenue just one notch above Koshiba Tarou’s Xiaosong Gallery.

However, OFA does have truly significant personalities—its house artist, Yayoi Kusama.

This ’granny’ has been crowned the highest-valued female artist in various art rankings for many years, more valuable than the combined worth of the second to the tenth-ranked artists.

She’s also the first woman in human history, counting from when Ancient Egyptians painted on stone walls five thousand years ago, whose combined art sales have exceeded one billion dollars.

Yayoi Kusama and Cao Xuan, both rated six and a half stars by the artist buying ranking of ”Oil Painting” magazine, are tied for the top spot among living artists, second only to Andy Warhol, who reached seven stars posthumously after being shot.

He never expected Shengzi to have such a connection.